Oil seal and dust guard unit for railroad car journal boxes



Oct. 30, 1962 A. H. CARLSON OIL SEAL AND DUST GUARD UNIT FOR RAILROAD CAR JOURNAL BOXES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Oct. 30, 1962 A. H. CARLSON OIL SEAL AND DUST GUARD UNIT FOR RAILROAD CAR JOURNAL BOXES Filed Nov. 3, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Oct. 30, 1962 A. H. CARLSON 3,051,316

OIL. SEAL AND, DUST GUARD UNIT FOR RAILROAD CAR JOURNAL BOXES Filed Nov. 3, I958 A 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Oct. 30, 1962 A. H. CARLSON OIL SEAL AND DUST GUARD UNIT FOR RAILROAD CAR JOURNAL BOXES 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 3, 1958 WJ 8 W 3 w 3 Oct. 30, 1962 A. H. CARLSON OIL SEAL AND DUST GUARD UNIT FOR RAILROAD CAR JOURNAL BOXES Filed Nov. 3, 1 958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. M 044% United States Patent Oflice r 3,051,316 Patented Oct. 30,, 1962 3,061,316 OIL SEAL AND DUST GUARD UNIT FOR RAIL- ROAD CAR JOURNAL BOXES Arthur H. Carlson, Three Oaks, Mich., assignor to Holiand Company, a corporation of Illinois Filed Nov. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 771,617 16 Claims. (Cl. 277-10) My invention relates to an oil seal and dust guard unit for railroad car journal boxes, and more particularly, to such a unit adapted for insertion in the journal box dust guard chamber without dismantling the truck.

Dust guards for railroad car journal boxes are required to keep dust, dirt, moisture and the like from entering the journal box adjacent the axle wheel. Conventional dust guards are usually formed from wood or fiber and are inserted into the dust guard chamber when the truck is disassembled. The deficiencies of such dust guards are well known in the art, though it may be mentioned that their well known propensity to permit oil leakage out of the journal box and the necessity of having to disassemble the truck to effect replacement or make repairs has recently initiated concentrated efforts to devise im-proved devices of this type.

A principal object of my invention is to provide a dust guard and oil seal unit that may be inserted in the conventional railroad car journal box dust guard pocket without disassembling the truck from the railroad car, yet which provides the necessary oil seal in the dust guard pocket.

A further principal object of the invention is to provide an oil seal and dust guard unit that may be removed and replaced without shopping the railroad car for heavy duty repair.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide an efficient oil seal and dust guard unit which may be disposed in operating position and withdrawn therefrom by applying same to or removing same from the dust guard chamber through the conventional top access opening thereof that is formed in the journal box housing.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide an oil seal and dust guard unit that is inexpensive of manufacture, efiicient in use, and readily adapted for application to conventional journal box housing structures.

Other objects, uses and advantages will be obvious or become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description and the application drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional view through familiar parts of a journal box housing and axle journal, taken longitudinally of the journal axle;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along line 2 2 of FIGURE 1, showing the unit mounted in the journal box assembly dust guard chamber;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 2, but illustrating the dust guard and oil seal components of the invention as they are positioned for insertion into the dust guard chamber;

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic fragmental perspective view of a portion of a modified form of oil seal member;

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic perspective view on an enlarged scale of the dust guard member forming a part of the unit shown in FIGURES l3;

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view along line 66 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of the form of oil seal member employed on the unit of FIGURES 13, showing same in the unflexed position;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view of the device shown in FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a plan view of one of the ends of the oil seal member shown in FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 10 is a plan view of a further modified oil seal member, showing same in flexed position;

FIGURE 11 is a side elevational view of the device shown in FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 is a fragmental view taken approximately along line 12-42 of FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 13 isv a fragmental plan view of the upper portion of a modified dust guard member;

FIGURE 14 is a view on the order of FIGURE 13, showing the upper portion of the dust guard member of FIGURE 13 as it appears when applied to a dust guard chamber; and

FIGURE 15 is a fragmental perspective view of the upper portion of one of the dust guard segments forming the member of FIGURE 13.

Reference numeral 10 of FIGURE 1 generally indicates a familiar type of journal box housing conventional journal 12 of axle 14. The journal box may contain the usual components that are customarily associated with the journal 12, these being illustrated diagrammatically. The journal box 10 includes the conventional dust guard chamber, pocket, or well 16 in which one embodiment 18 of my oil seal and dust guard unit is mounted. The chamber 16 is defined in part by transversely extending walls 17 (see FIGURE 1), as is well known in the art.

The unit 18 comprises (see FIGURE 3) a dust guard member 20 associated with an oil seal member 22. The members 20 and 22 are separably connected and are arranged so that they may be inserted from the upwardly facing opening 24 of the dust guard chamber 16. The dust guard member comprises a body portion 26 formed with a pair of depending projections 28 that are notched for flexibility as indicated at 34), notches 30 forming segments 31; the projections and body portion of the dust guard member are formed with recess 32 (see FIGURES 2 and 6) that is proportioned to receive ridge 34 of the oil seal member 22.

The ridge '34 of member 22 is integrally united with a bearing flange portion 36. The ridge 34 and flange portion 36 extend the length of member 22 and member 22 is substantially equal in length to the circumference of the axle dust guard seat. Ridge 34 adjacent the ends N2 of member 22 is formed into a plurality of segments 38 united to form pleats 39 (see FIGURES 7-9), which are so proportioned that when the ends 102 are rectilinearly disposed, the pleats will be opened in the manner best shown in FIGURE 8; when the ends 102 are flexed to conform to the curvature of the axle dust guard seat, the pleats disappear to make ridge 34 of uniform dimension throughout its length. The oil seal 22 may be formed with a lug 104 that is adapted to be inserted into complementary recess 1% when the ends of the member 22 are brought into juxtaposition. The lug III-t and socket 1% serve to interlock the two ends of the member 22.

The portions of ridge 34 formed with segments 33 should be approximately equal in length to one-fourth of the circumference of the axle dust guard seat; the portions of dust guard projections 23 for-med with notches 39 should together substantially equal the length of the curved bottom of the dust guard Well, and thus be substantially equivalent to the dust guard Well bottom portion that extends between points 167 and 109 of FIG- URE 2. As shown in FIGURES 3 and 5, the dust guard member segments 31 at the extreme ends of projections 23 are somewhat longer than the Others to permit the inner edges 41 of projections 28 to be disposed concentrically about the journal, when the unit is inserted, this being necessary due to the customary positioning of the journal above the center on which the bottom of the box is struck.

The dust guard portion includes a generally U-shaped resilient metallic reinforcing member 44 which may be formed from spring steel and which includes arms 46 that extend longitudinally of the projections 28 and are integrally united with a web portion 48. Web portion 48 is made up of segments 56 and 52 which converge in a direction away from the dust guard projections 28 and terminate in a looped portion 54 which may be gripped by a suitable tool or ones hand.

The web portion 43 of the reinforcing member 44 extends across the body portion of dust guard member 2% and just beneath the web portion 48, the dust guard member is formed with recess 69 (see FIGURE 2) having inclined lower surfaces 62 and 64 against which the segments 59 and 52 are to respectively bear when the web portion 48 is snapped past the imaginary line connecting the corners 66 of reinforcing member 44.

As shown in FIGURES 5 and 6, the projections 28 of the dust guard member 26 are each formed with an opening 70 to accommodate the ridge 34 of member 22 as hereinafter described. The arms 46 of reinforcing member 44 are formed with openings 71 that are coextensive with openings 70, respectively.

The reinforcing member 44 is preferably embedded in the dust guard member 20 along the projections thereof somewhat as indicated in FIGURE 6, and its ends are turned outwardly against the outer sides of the projections to form cam surfaces 72.

The dust guard member 20 may be formed from any suitable oil resistant plastic or rubber-like material, as may the oil seal member 22, though the materials selected must be such that the oil seal member will slide freely within the dust guard. member when the unit is in operating position. The synthetic rubber-like substance made and sold under the trademark Hycar by B. F. Goodrich Company, of Akron, Ohio, would be suitable for the member 20, while the member 22 may be formed from nylon.

The members 20. and 22 of unit 18 are positioned somewhat as shown in FIGURE 3 when they are to be in serted into the dust guard chamber of the journal box. Thus, the member 22, which may be initially formed to the general Ushaped configuration of FIGURE 3, is placed in a dust guard chamber with the ends thereof between the sides of the axle and the side wall 80 of the dust guard chamber. The dust guard member is then positioned above the oil seal member with the ridge 34 inserted in the portions of slot 32 that are formed in the projections 28. One then merely presses downwardly on the dust guard member to move the ends of the oil seal member against the curved lower surface 32 of the dust guard chamber, a further lowering action flexing the ends of the oil seal member toward each other and tending to align the segments 38 in the plane of the unsegmented portion of ridge 34. When the oil seal member has been lowered to the point that the upper portion of flange 36, in the showing of FIGURE 3, is in contact with the dust guard seat of the axle, the ends of the projections 28 may be moved easily over the segments 33 and brought into the juxtaposition indicated in FIGURE 2. The rounded ends 72. of the member 44 act as camming surfaces which ride along the curved surface 82 of the dust guard chamber.

In the assembled condition, the notches 30 of dust guard member are closed and the segments 38 of the oil seal member are all aligned with the unsegmented portion of ridge 34. Also, the lug 104 of oil seal 22 will be received in socket 1%. The flange 36 of the oil seal is then formed into a bearing sleeve about the axle dust guard seat.

After the unit is positioned as shown in FIGURE 2, the web 48 is deflected downwardly to the dashed line position of FIGURE 2, which positions it to effect a locking action on the unit. In this position, the segments 50 and 52 apply pressure against the side wall of the dust guard chamber as at 38 and thereby effects a dust seal at this point. This pressing action is obtained by proportioning surfaces 62 and 64 of the dust guard memher so that the web 48 may not move to its fully lowered position, as would be true if the segments 59 and 52 were to freely deflect downwardly under the resilient action of the member 44.

When the device 13 is locked in place in this manner, the confining action of the dust guard member on the oil seal member will hold the latter to the radius of the journal; the device 18 then will serve its intended purpose until repair or replacement is made necessary by normal wear on the oil seal occasioned due to the operation of the journal. The portion 54 of web 48 may then be gripped by ones fingers or a suitable tool to snap the web portion to its upper position and free the unit for removal. Removal is accomplished by effecting a careful drawing action on reinforcing member 44 to draw the dust guard member 29 outwardly and upwardly of the dust guard chamber. Withdrawal of the dust guard member will leave at least one end of the oil seal member exposed above the axle; the exposed end may be positioned for gripping by reaching into the dust guard chamber through the opening at the rear of the box to bend same upwardly from the axle toward chamber mouth 24 after which it may be readily gripped and pulled out of the box. While the oil seal member may rotate within the dust guard member, this presents no problem on removal since one end may be easily pulled free of the axle as described once the dust guard member is removed.

The proportioning of ridge 34 and recess 32 is preferably such that the oil seal member may move freely ver' tically as well as forwardly and rearwardly of the railroad car under the up and down and back and forth action of the journal during operation of the car. Openings and 71 of the dust guard are proportioned to acccmmodate oil seal ridge 34 when the axle contacts the dust guard chamber walls. The oil seal and dust guard members are further preferably proportioned so that the oil seal flange portion 36 contacts the dust guard when the oil seal ridge 34 has fully entered openings 7% and 71 at one side of the unit; flange portion 36 is dimensioned axially of the journal to fit between dust guard chamber walls 17.

The pleats 39 may be cone shaped or any other configuration that will serve the objects of the invention.

FIGURE 4 illustrates a fragment of a modified oil seal member 22a which may be substituted for the oil seal member 22. The member 22a is formed with flange 36 and a ridge 340 that adjacent the ends of the member is formed to define modified segments 33a. When the ends ltiZa of the member 22a are rectilinearly disposed, the segments 35a will overlap somewhat in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 4, but when the member 22a has been fully inserted into the dust guard chamber, the segments 38a will lie in the same plane to make the ridge 34a of uniform dimension throughout its length in the same manner that ridge 34 is; segments 38a should be proportioned so that their adjacent edges will be in contact when in operating position. Oil seal member 22a is otherwise similar to member 22, except that lug 1M and socket 166 are eliminated.

FIGURES 10-12 illustrate a further form of oil seal member 22!) that may be employed with a dust guard member 2%. The oil seal member 22b is formed with flange 35 and ridge 3 31: which is somewhat thicker than ridge 34 and in the area of ends is divided into three segments 112, 114 and 116. The segments are each formed with notches 118, and 122, respectively, notch s 118 and 322 being staggered with respect to notches 126. In this embodiment of the invention, the segments 112, 114 and H6 are proportioned so that the notches 113, 123* and 122 are open when the ends 110 are moved or flexed into conformity with the configuration of the axle dust guard seat. The notches being staggered, the intervening portions of the segments 112, 114 and 116 effect the desired oil seal.

As indicated in FIGURE 12, the ridge 3415 at the extremities of the ends lit may be formed with lugs 13%) that are engaged by the ends of a dust guard member 20 used with the oil seal member of FIGURES 1-0l2. The engagement of the dust guard projection ends with the lugs 130 aids in effecting a proper positioning of the oil seal member ends lit about the axle dust guard scat. Of course, the dust guard member 2i; employed with oil seal member 2215 should have its ends recessed in a manner that is complementary to lugs 130, and, recess 32 of dust guard member 26 would have to be proportioned to accommodate ridge 34b.

The dust guard member of FIGURES 13-15 is in the form of two like halves 1.52 which are to be assembled in the dust guard chamber together with one of the oil seals described to accomplish the objects of the invention. Each dust guard half I52 includes body portion 25a, a projection 28, an inclined surface 154 equivalent to surfaces 62 and 6d, and reinforcing member 156 including arm 46 and segment 157 that is equivalent to segments 50 and 52 of reinforcing member 44. The body portion 26a is formed with recess 32 and includes a lug 158 on one side thereof and a socket 169 on the other side. The reinforcing member segment 1S6 terminates in a bifurcated end portion 162 including spaced projections 164 positioned on either side of upstanding projection 166.

The dust guard member is designed for use in cars having limited manipulation spaces between the top of the journal box and the undersurface of the car body, as is found, for instance, in gondola cars and some boxcars. in use, the oil seal member to be employed is inserted .as before. To install the dust guard sections, the installer faces the front of the journal box, and, taking a dust guard half 152, for instance, left hand half 152 of FIGURE 13, he works such half 1522 into the left hand side of pocket 16 from the right hand side of the box, holding it horizontally disposed as may be necessary to bring the projection 26 within the pocket; this dust guard half 15?. is then inserted as far down as possible in the far side of the dust guard chamber (with respect to the side of the journal box that the'installer is working from), with the body portion 26a thereof projecting toward the right hand side of the box. The other dust guard half 152 is then inserted into the right side of the dust guard chamber from the left hand side of the box and moved downwardly until the halves are approximately aligned, at which position the lugs 158 will slip into the sockets tee opposing them and the projections 164 of the near half 152 contact the ends 170 of the other half 152 of projection 1'64, somewhat as shown in FIGURE 13. The halves 152 then may be pressed downwardly as a unit (from either side of the box) to properly position the dust guard and oil seal members about the axle, after which reinforcing member segments 157 may be pressed downwardly past the imaginary line connecting the corners es of reinforcing members 156 to lock the unit in place. in this position, upstanding projections 16%? abut each other, as seen in FIGURE 14.

Withdrawal of halves 152 may be effected by snapping reinforcing member segments 157 to the position of FIG- URE 13, and reversing the steps outlined above, the oil seal member being removed as previously described. Upstanding projections 256 may be formed with a curved end 180 to permit a suitable tool to aid in drawing halves 152 out of the dust guard pocket.

Dust guard halves 152 are identical in configuration, and provide manufacturing advantages of permitting the use of a smaller mold to make same as well as permitting easier removal of the core that forms slot 32. The lugs 158 provide a dust sealing action as well as serving to hold the halves in proper alignment.

It will thus be seen that I have provided oil seal and dust guard units which not only effectively perform the functions desired of such devices, but also may be applied to and removed from the dust guard chamber without having to disturb the truck assembly. This means that hereafter, dust guard seals may be applied to and removed. from journal box assemblies without having to effect a major dismantling operation on a railroad car. Inspection and replacement may be effected in the field be relatively unskilled workers. My invention also eliminates the need for the conventional dust guard chamber plug that customarily closes the dust guard chamber.

Furthermore, the components of the invention are made from flexible materials that are not crushed by the back and forth movement of the journal, the oil seal being specifically designed to avoid crushing thereof in the plane of its ridge.

In practice, the dust guard members remain permanently associated with the journal box, they being removed only to replace the oil seal member which is renewable at minimum cost due to its inexpensive manufacturing cost.

The foregoing description and the drawings are given merely to explain and illustrate my invention and the invention is not to be limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, since those skilled in the art who have my disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A dust guard and oil seal unit for reception in railroad car axle journal box dust guard chambers of the type having a floor that is concavely rounded transversely of the axle, said unit comprising a dust guard member proportioned for insertion in the space within said chamber about the dust guard seat of the axle, said member comprising a body portion from which extend a pair of projections proportioned for positioning about the lower portion of the axle in the space between the axle and the journal box structure defining said chamber and of a length sufiicient to contact the chamber floor when said member is inserted in the chamber with said legs disposed on either side of the axle, and to be cammed into juxtaposition when said member is lowered into its operative position in the chamber, said projections and said body being recessed along the surfaces thereof that are to face the journal when the unit is in operative position in the chamber, and an oil seal member comprising an elongate member of sufiicient length to encircle the dust guard seat when the unit is inserted in operative position in the chamber, said oil seal member being formed with an inner bearing portion that is proportioned to contact the dust guard seat about the circumference thereof when the unit is inserted in operative position in the chamber and an outwardly projecting ridge formed for reception in the recess of said dust guard member when said members are in operative position in the chamber, said recess and said ridge being substantially complementary transversely of the unit, said ridge along a substantial portion of the ends of said oil seal member being formed along its outwardly extending portion with segments adapted to be arranged in oil sealing relation when said oil seal is in operating position about the axle, but permitting flexion of the oil seal during insertion thereof about the axle, and means for holding said members in position about the axle when the unit is in operative position in the dust guard chamber.

2. The unit set forth in claim 1 wherein said segments are united to define pleats that are drawn into the plane of said ridge and said recess'as said oil seal member is inserted in said chamber, to permit said ridge to fit into said dust guard member.

3. The unit set forth in claim 1 wherein said segments are arranged in a single row and are so proportioned that adjacent segments overlap each other when said ends of said oil seal member are in a rectilinear configuration, said segments aligning in the plane of said ridge and said recess, as said oil seal member is inserted in said chamber, to permit said ridge to fit into said dust guard member.

4. The unit set forth in claim 1 wherein said segments are arranged in a plurality of juxtaposed rows, with the segments of each row being staggered with respect to the segments of adjacent rows, said segments being defined by V-shaped notches in said ridge.

5. The unit set forth in claim 1 wherein the extremities of said ends of said oil seal member are formed with interengaging means adapted to be brought into engagement when said oil seal member is in said operating position about the axle.

6. The unit set forth in claim 1 wherein the extremities of said ends of said oil seal member are formed with laterally projecting legs adapted to be engaged by the ends of said dust guard member to bring said extremities of said oil seal member ends into engagement underneath the axle.

7. A dust guard and oil seal unit for reception in the dust guard chamber of railroad car journal boxes comprising a dust guard member proportioned to substantially fill the space within said chamber about the dust guard seat of the axle, said member comprising a body portion from which extend a pair of flexible projections proportioned for positioning about the lower portion of the axle in the space between the axle and the journal box structure defining said chamber, said projections and said body defining a generally U-shaped structure when said projections are rectilinearly disposed, a generally U-shaped resilient reinforcing member including leg portions extending longitudinally of the respective dust guard member projections and a web portion extending across said body portion of said dust guard member, said web portion comprising a pair of segments converging in a direction away from said projections, said web portion lying in a recess formed in said dust guard member body portion that opens upwardly of the dust guard chamber, and an oil seal member comprising an elongate flexible member of sufiicient length to encircle the dust guard seat when same is in operative position in the chamber, said oil seal member being formed with an inner bearing portion that is proportioned to contact the dust guard seat about the circumference thereof when same is in operative position in the chamber, said dust guard member being formed to be received over said oil seal member when the unit is in operative position in the chamber, whereby said oil seal member may be formed to substantially a U-shape, and the ends thereof placed etween the sides of the axle and the dust guard chamher, and then the ends of said dust guard member projections applied between the respective ends of said oil seal member and the sides of the dust guard chamber to position the unit for insertion, whereupon said dust guard member may be pressed into the dust guard chamber to effect positioning of said dust guard member projections and said oil seal member in operative position about the axle, said segments of said reinforcing member being adapted to be pressed past dead center to elfect a latching of the unit in place in the dust guard chamber when same is in operative position therein.

8. The unit set forth in claim 7 wherein the extremities of said reinforcing member leg portions extend to the extremities of the respective dust guard member projections, said extremities of said reinforcing member leg portions having camming elements for engagement with the bottom of the dust guard chamber.

9. The unit set forth in claim 7 wherein said oil seal member is slidably mounted with respect to said dust guard member, whereby the oil seal member is free to shift with the movement of the axle with respesct to the journal box during operation thereof.

10. The unit set forth in claim 7 wherein said dust guard member comprises a pair of identical halves, said halves including interengaging means for securing each to the othe'.

ll. A combination dust guard and oil seal unit for reception in railroad car axle journal box dust guard pockets of the type having a floor that is concavely rounded transversely of the axle, said unit comprising a U-shaped oil seal member, and a planar U-shaped dust guard member having flexible legs of a length sufficient to contact the pocket floor when said dust guard member is inserted in the pocket with said legs disposed on either side of the axle and to be cammed into juxtaposition as said dust guard is lowered into the pocket, said dust guard member being recessed along the concave side thereof and between the ends of its legs, said oil seal member being formed with an outwardly projecting flexible ridge portion proportioned for reception in the recess of said dust guard portion, said ridge comprising a flangelike element formed with means along its outwardly projecting portion in the area of the ends of said oil seal member for permitting flexion of said ends of said oil seal member laterally of said ridge, said members thereby being adapted to be inserted within the dust guard pocket from the open end thereof by placing the ends of said oil seal member between the sides of the axle and the dust guard pocket sides with said ridge projecting upwardly and then applying the ends of said legs of said dust guard member between the respective ends of said oil seal member and the sides of the dust guard pocket with said ridge received in the dust guard recess, and then pressing said dust guard member downwardly to effect operative positioning of said unit about the axle by camming said ends of said dust guard legs against the floor of the pocket, said means including means for effecting an oil sealing action in said area of said oil seal member when the unit is in its said operative position, and means for locking said members within the pocket when said unit is in its said operative position.

12. The unit set forth in claim 11 wherein said ridge is proportioned for sliding engagement within said dust guard member recess whereby when the unit is in its said operative position in the pocket, said oil seal member may rotate with respect to said dust guard member.

13. A combination dust guard and oil seal unit for reception in railroad car axle journal box dust guard pockets of the type having a floor that is concavely rounded transversely of the axle, said unit comprising a U-shaped oil seal member and a U-shaped dust guard member, the legs of said members being flexible and the legs of each member being of sufiicient length to have their ends disposed in juxtaposition under the axle when the unit is in operative position in the pocket, said legs of said dust guard member being proportioned to contact the pocket floor when said dust guard member is inserted in the pocket with its said legs disposed on either side of the axle and cammed into juxtaposition as said dust guard is lowered into the pocket, means for rotatably mounting said oil seal member within said dust guard member when said unit is in operative position in the pocket, said dust guard being proportioned to be surmounted over said oil seal member, said members thereby being adapted to be inserted within the dust guard pocket from the open end thereof by placing the ends of said oil seal member and the surmounted dust guard member between the sides of the axle and the pocket sides, on either side of the axle, and then pressing said dust guard member downwardly to effect operative position of said unit about the axle by camming said ends of said dust guard legs against the floor of the pocket, and means for locking said unit within the pocket when said unit is in its said operative position.

14. A dust guard device for reception in railroad car axle journal box dust guard chambers of the type having a floor that is concavely rounded transversely of the axle, said device comprising a unitary U-shaped body defining flexible legs extending from a web portion, with the legs of said body being of sufiicient length to have their ends disposed in juxtaposition under the axle when the device is in operative position in the chamber, said legs of said device being proportioned to contact the chamber floor when said body is inserted in the chamber with its legs disposed on either side of the axle and be cammed into juxtaposition as said body is lowered into the chamber,

and a generally U-shaped resilient reinforcing member including leg portions embedded in and extending longitudinally of the respective dust guard body legs and a web portion extending across the web portion of said body, said reinforcing member web portion comprising a pair of segments converging in a direction away from said body legs, said reinforcing member web portion lying in a recess formed in said body web portion that opens upwardly of the dust guard chamber, with said segments of said reinforcing member being adapted to be pressed past dead center to effect a latching of the device in place in the dust guard chamber when the body is in operative position therein.

15. An oil seal device for reception in railroad car axle journal box dust guard chambers and about the circumference of the axle dust guard seat thereof, said device comprising a unitary U-shaped oil seal member formed from a lubricant impervious material defining flexible leg portions extending from a web portion, said member between the ends of said leg portions having a length proportioned to complement the circumference of the axle dust guard seat when the device is in its operative position in the chamber, said member being formed with an inner bearing portion that is proportioned to contact the axle dust guard seat about its circumference thereof, when the device is in its operative position in the chamber, and an outwardly projecting ridge that is substantially coextensive with said bearing portion and lies in the plane of the longitudinal center of said bearing portion, said ridge along the area of the ends of said member being formed with segment means along its outwardly projecting portion for permitting flexion of said ends of said member laterally of said ridge, said means including means for effecting an oil sealing action in said area of said member when said member is in its operative position in the chamber.

16. A combination dust guard and oil seal unit for reception in railroad car axle journal box dust guard pockets about the circumference of the axle dust guard seat thereof, said unit comprising an oil seal member and a dust guard member, said dust guard member being shaped to define a body portion from which extend a pair of flexible projections proportioned for positioning about the lower portion of the axle, with their ends in substantial juxtaposition, in the space between the axle and the journal box structure defining said pocket when the dust guard member is placed astride the dust guard seat, said projections and said body defining a generally U-shaped structure when said projections are rectilinearly disposed, said oil seal member comprising a strip of lubricant resistant material defining an inner bearing portion having a length substantially complementing that of the circumference of said seat an an outwardly projecting ridge that is substantially coextensive with said bearing portion, said ridge along the area of the ends of said oil seal member being formed with segment means along its outwardly projecting portion for permitting flexion of said ends of said oil seal member laterally of said ridge, said dust guard member being recessed along the concave side thereof and between the ends of its projections for receiving said ridge of said oil seal member, whereby, said unit is applied to the axle seat to engage it in its operative position by placing the dust guard member astride the seat and in encircling relation therewith with said dust guard member surmounted on said oil seal member and the ridge of said oil seal member received in said recess of said dust guard member, and means for holding said ends of said dust guard member in substantial juxtaposition underneath the axle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,156,398 Moreau May 2, 1939 2,177,441 Pesarese Oct. 24, 1939 2,638,363 Bryant May 12, 1953 2,893,761 Peat July 7, 1959 2,926,031 Herr et al. Feb. 23, 1960 

